Comcast Business recently announced a strategic partnership with Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, to deliver enterprises a new set of secure access service edge (SASE), and security service edge (SSE) solutions to help enterprises protect their distributed workforces using a cloud-delivered approach to security policy enforcement. This collaboration expands Comcast Business’s managed services expertise, while giving enterprises greater flexibility to choose the cloud architecture and vendor mix that is right for them.
In today’s work-from-anywhere world, IT leaders are challenged with balancing employee convenience with securing their networks. New security architectures, such as SASE, which converges networking and security via SD-WAN and cloud-delivered security, and SSE, the security foundation of SASE, enable enterprises to strengthen their security posture while enhancing employees’ experience, regardless of their location. In fact, according to a recent Foundry CIO research study sponsored by Masergy (a Comcast Business company) and Fortinet, the overwhelming majority (98%) of enterprise IT leaders surveyed cited the convergence of network and security as critical or very important, while 94% said their adoption of SASE solutions has accelerated.
The new Comcast Business offerings — delivered through Comcast Business Secure Gateways —give enterprises the option to choose from either SASE or SSE solutions backed by Fortinet’s security-driven networking technology and Equinix’s flexible cloud connection Equinix FabricÔ for a complete secure network service. Enterprises wanting to enable safe access to cloud and web services can take advantage of the Comcast Business SSE solution, which brings together multiple cloud-delivered network security technologies in a fully-hosted environment. The Comcast Business SASE solution provides this hosted SSE security architecture combined with zero trust capabilities and any of Comcast Business’s SD-WAN solutions.
“In today’s dynamic world, no two companies are alike and very few are the same as they were just two years ago,” said Amit Verma, Chief Technology Officer, Enterprise Solutions, Comcast Business. “By expanding our relationship with Fortinet, we are offering our clients more choice and the flexibility to choose a solution that works for them – while providing some of the latest security solutions to help keep them ready for the day – today and tomorrow.”
Comcast Business Secure Gateways provide a fully-hosted set of SASE or SSE services covering a broad range of security networking solutions for Firewall-as-a-Service (FWaaS), Intrusion Prevention (IPS), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA). Comcast Business Secure Gateways are hosted across the United States at Equinix data centers, offering up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps) of cloud connectivity for public, private, or hybrid cloud deployments. The Equinix FabricÔ enables support of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, IBM and more than 200 SaaS providers.
“In order to enhance user experience, reduce complexity, and improve their security posture against today’s most advanced and persistent threats, organizations must adopt solutions that converge networking and security,” said John Maddison, EVP of products and CMO, Fortinet. “We’re pleased to work closely with Comcast Business to build SASE services that support customers at any stage of digital innovation with Fortinet’s industry leading security-driven networking technology.”
To learn more about Comcast Business SD-WAN solutions, please visit: https://business.comcast.com/enterprise/products-services/managed-services/managed-connectivity.
